ISDS Case Map
Mercosur
Montevideo is pushing ahead with FTA talks with China – ignoring warnings from neighbors about possible legal and trade action if Uruguay negotiates outside the bloc.
Spain is confident that the European Union can finally unlock a free-trade agreement with a group of South American countries, including Brazil and Argentina, and push forward a process that has dragged on for decades.
The President of Uruguay stated that negotiations with Chinese authorities are “progressing”. However, the processes of the Asian country advance at a “slower” pace, the head of the South American Government said.
In Brussels, several EU diplomats believe France could change its mind as geopolitical tensions following the war in Ukraine and the coronavirus pandemic strengthen the case for the 27-nation bloc to diversify its trading relationships.
The deal as negotiated is in principle a neocolonial, extractivist instrument: intended to secure EU imports of commodities and raw materials from South America, while increasing EU exports of industrial and chemical products.
Despite the ongoing devastation, and with the Amazon likely at an irreversible environmental tipping point, the European Union continues to push for a free trade agreement with Mercosur which would increase the pressure on the region.
There can be no EU-Mercosur deal without mirror clauses that would force producers from both sides of the world to respect the same environmental and health standards, French President Emmanuel Macron told farmers in Paris this weekend.
It is time to fundamentally change trade relations to put the environment, climate and human rights at the centre and dismantle the legacy of neo-colonial economics.
France is waiting to see if Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's return to power in Brazil will allow progress on climate and deforestation issues that remain red lines for Paris in any EU-Mercosur trade deal, its agriculture minister said.
Under Argentina's pro-tempore presidency, Mercosur will try to clinch a Free Trade Agreement with Singapore, according to Foreign Ministry sources.
